Qualcomm S4 chips in short supply

Qualcomm has announced that it cannot meet demand for its latest Snapdragon S4 processors.

The new chips are manufactured in the 28nm process, namely at TSMC, and it appears that Qualcomm simply can’t get enough of them. The S4 is used in HTC’s One S smartphone, but as many as 150 devices based on the new 28nm part are in the pipeline.

The company claims it underestimated demand for S4 chips and it is now looking into ways of overcoming the shortage, by offering alternative products or tapping additional manufacturing capacities.

If the shortage persists, it could end up hurting certain Android phone makers, and maybe even Windows phone makers.